Parking charges would be a “nail in the coffin for us”, says Julie Wooley. The 59-year-old works in Ossett and fears the planned scrapping of a parking scheme across the Wakefield borough would be detrimental for the town.
“We have really good markets and it brings people in, but if you scrap the free parking, people will go to big places like Trinity Walk and White Rose,” she says.
Reform UK councillors are proposing to cut a current two-hour free parking concession.
The plan, set to be decided later, would also see changes in resident permit charges and increased on-street parking fees with a free 30-minute period, along with the launch of a consultation on a £1 evening parking rate.
The proposal follows a review which found that changes, if applied across the borough, could raise more than £1.8m for Wakefield Council.
“We are worried,” Mehdi Khassafi says.
The cook at the Speciality Sandwich Shop on Market Place is cleaning up after a day of trading.
“This is a really really small town,” he says.
“This is not a city, this is not Leeds or Sheffield.
“We have got Tuesday market and Friday market, the rest of the week is quiet,” he says.
“If they are going to put parking charges around us no one is going to come to town.”
